The first ever televised debates between Mr Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg, were staged on BBC, ITV and Sky News in the weeks before the 2010 general election.

Mr Clegg briefly rose to first place in the polls at the height of so-called “Cleggmania” which resulted from his performances in the programmes.

However, his temporary popularity did not translate into a rise in the number of Liberal Democrat MPs.

Senior MPs have suggested that the next debates could take place over a much longer time period, even up to a year before the election in 2015.

While it is assumed that they will now become a fixture of British elections, as they are of American presidential elections, no agreement has been made for the future programmes.

Mr Cameron has said that he found the format for the 2010 series too “controlled”. Audiences were banned from applause under a set of highly restrictive rules.

In his interview, Mr Miliband also suggested that he would wait and “see” what emerges from future negotiations over Britain’s relationship with the European Union before deciding on whether voters should be given a say in a referendum.

He said Parliament was “too middle class” and promised to recruit a more diverse range of Labour candidates.